Neighbors

Green Moms

May 2012
Shenequa Aranda is teaching son Preston, age 2, about caring for the environment. (Photo: ##http://www.hartphoto.com##www.hartphoto.com##)

The words “Green Moms” may conjure up images of women with hairy armpits feeding their children nothing but raw veggies and crunchy granola. But you won’t find them here. These moms look like most mainstream neighbors – but they have committed to living healthier, eco-friendly lives, in a variety of ways.

Although these women say they’re far from100 percent organic, …

Continue Reading >>

An Inspiration by Example

May 2012
Dr. Sally Ann Holmes provides care for injured veterans.

Memorial Day, which is May 28 this year, is the day we honor fallen heroes from military service and war, remembering their efforts on our behalf.

In Houston we have a well-regarded medical facility to care for wounded heroes, at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, which most of us call “The VA.”

Among the doctors here is Dr. …

Continue Reading >>

Buzz About Town – May 2012

May 2012
Super

Super Souper Bowl haul
West University Elementary students scooped the competition, bringing in more than 28,000 pounds of food for the Souper Bowl of Caring. Theirs was the program’s most successful food drive. To celebrate, Blue Bell Creameries donated ice cream for a party for the students and staff. Souper Bowl of Caring is a youth-led movement to fight hunger …

Continue Reading >>

Lessons from Babe

May 2012
Babe and 3 year-old Jo get some sun, stylishly.

Mom and I were recently discussing why some folks are so unhappy and cranky, and I asked her, “Okay, so why do you think I turned out so happy?”

“Because you take after me,” she said.

That’s when the idea of Lessons from Babe was born. I’d been a ‘60s, feminist-aspiring, bellbottom-wearing daughter, who was sorely disappointed with my low-achieving …

Continue Reading >>

Back Porch – Drowning in Masterpieces

May 2012
Alec, Nicole, Evan and Eliya Gibson (from left) display some of the kids' prolific artwork. Mom Nicole plans to archive it in books she'll create online. (Photo: ##http://www.hartphoto.com##www.hartphoto.com##)

My dining room table is about to become a massive pile of construction paper and paint. School’s almost out for the summer, and a year’s worth of children’s writing and artwork is about to descend. Soon we’ll all be drowning in masterpieces.

Once upon a time, impressed with myself, I bought under-bed boxes and started collecting pieces in them. Each …

Continue Reading >>

Mom Always Said…

May 2012
Faye Tucker, who turns 105 this June, has refused to buy green bananas for many years, rationalizing that she doesn't know for sure if she'll be around by the time they ripen. (Photo: ##http://www.hartphoto.com##www.hartphoto.com##)

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, we’re paying tribute to the sage advice our moms always seem to have at the ready. Because for all the advice we didn’t want to hear (“Brush your hair!”), the years of making sure we did our homework and cleaned our rooms (before we did anything else), and the words of wisdom we could …

Continue Reading >>

Stylin’ at Prom – Like Father, Like Son

April 2012
Ben Boucher, 17, evokes James Bond in this tuxedo. His dad, Marc, wore a brown crushed-velvet tux to his prom.

The boys are gearing up for prom again, and every year, longtime formal wear store manager LaTanya Johnson helps them find the right tuxedo. These days, she says, anything goes, although the seniors seem to be going back to basics, instead of the printed paisley and plaid vests of recent years. They want a more fitted look and Italian tailoring. …

Continue Reading >>

Buzz About Town – April 2012

April 2012
SPCA

Students for SPCA
Eighth graders at Pershing Middle School raised $350 for the Houston SPCA with a bake sale and movie party. Then, they received a $500 grant from The Meadows Foundation, which gives grants for programs that improve lives in Texas. The students took the $850 to Walmart and bought towels, beds, leashes, food, kitty litter, office supplies and …

Continue Reading >>

College in Your Hometown

April 2012
Buzz intern and HSPVA graduate Lillian Seidel chose to stay in her hometown for college and is enjoying her second semester at Rice University.

Deadlines for choosing colleges have passed for some high school seniors and are fast approaching for others. This time of year is all about decisions – roommates, budgets and, also, geography.

Where do students want to spend their college years? For some, their hometown is the best option.

Last year, while a senior at HISD’s High School for the Performing …

Continue Reading >>

Back Porch – Vacation Mayhem

April 2012
The Kalmans family smile with their new friend, a hotel manager who made their trip extra special. Kendall, Lewis, Aerin, Tali, Ken and Elyse (from left) have stayed in touch since the cruise.

Pre-children, our friends who have a farm not far from Houston often invited us up for the weekend. I remember one particular spring weekend – gorgeous weather, wildflowers blooming, blue sky. Perfect.

Our friends made sure everyone felt comfortable in their rooms. They put us up in the back house, just a little away from the main house and private, …

Continue Reading >>

Healing our Urban Forest

April 2012
Garden Club of Houston members Doris Heard, Karen Terrell and Gail Faris (from left) help the Memorial Park Conservancy in its reforesting efforts.

The drought of 2011 left its ugly mark not only on our national forests, but also on our city parks and streets. As the hot and dry days stretched to weeks and months, I had an urge to store jugs of water in my car to dump on stressed trees when driving around town.

Obviously one water crusader is not …

Continue Reading >>

No Prescription? No Pill

April 2012
Whether you are young or old, borrowing another's prescription pill can lead to disastrous consequences. (Photo: ##istockphoto.com/GMVozd##istockphoto.com/GMVozd##)

Angelina didn’t worry that she was committing a crime. She knew she was, but it didn’t matter. She was more worried about her upcoming presentation before her boss. It was a high-stress moment for an aspiring writer working a prestigious internship.

“I was so terrified of my boss,” said Angelina (not her actual name), “and was about to go into …

Continue Reading >>

Buzz About Town – March 2012

March 2012
Ring

A ring and some rings
After Scott Frankel popped the question to Dara Cohen Jan. 11, she was so excited that she called her mother, father and sister in Fort Worth. Or, she thought they were in Fort Worth. In reality, they were together in Scott’s father’s car, trying not to laugh while she told each of them separately the …

Continue Reading >>

Favorite Stories – Then and Now

March 2012
Katherine, Thomas and Patricia Brackendorff and Wiley DeWeese (from left) get their sibling hug on at Thomas' TCU graduation.

We asked our writers to flash back to especially memorable stories from the past 10 years of The Buzz and to let us know what’s happened since then.

It turns out that the most impactful stories, for many, featured young residents and parents who had shown true character in the face of immense challenges.

Read on to see what has …

Continue Reading >>

Back Porch – Getting Kids to Talk

March 2012
Tara Sondock says the key to getting her boys Gabe, 9, and Joe, 12, to talk is jumping on the trampoline together.

Children. From the moment they’re conceived, and often long before that, they’re the focus of our worlds. Every stage brings something new, something better than the last, even when we thought they couldn’t get any better.

Then they turn 8 or 10 or 12, and something happens. They’re still the focus of our worlds, but somehow we’ve become targets of …

Continue Reading >>